Rail clamp



Sept, 2@, 1932. I E.- F. BEGTRUP RAIL CLAMP 3 Shts-5heet l Filed June 7. 1950 INVENTOR Edwardfifleflrap k A H15 ATTURNEY Sept. 20, 1932.

E. F. BEGTRUP RAIL CLAMP Filed June 7. 1950 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR awn...)-

H16 ATTORNEY RAIL CLAMP Filed June 7. 1950 I5 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR Edward F 151 -95114 BY M M 1115 ATTORNEY rails.

Patented Sept. 20, 1932 EDWARD F.- BEGTR'UP, OF JERSEY" CITY, NEW JERSEY RAIL cLAMr Application filed June 7, 1930. Serial No. 459,679.

The invention relates to improvements in 1 rail clamps of the general type as shown and described in the patent to Schultz N 0. 1,644,358, dated October 4, 1927, and is designed primarily to enlarge the utility of such clamps by providing the same with three or more points of pressure contact with the end of each rail to be welded, whereby rail ends having kinks or deformations may, is nevertheless, have their abutting ends brought into such relation that the gauge and tread faces of the heads will be accurately aligned before the butt welding operation is eflected. I

The'invention is illustrated in the accom panying' drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the improved clamp applied to the ends of two standard 20 Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view on line 33 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are similar views showing modi ed arrangements of the clamping-or 2 pressure contacts.

The practical pressure welding of rail ends consists, in reality, the webs and bases of the rails and the actual pressure welding'of the head portions. In

30 order to effect such pressure weld, clamps are applied to the two rail ends, so that, when the rail heads have been highly heated, they may be forced together and the contacting faces will coalesce in a substantially uniform weld; Various forms of clamps suitable for this purpose-have been devised and used and, among the most practical, is that illustrated in'the Schultz patentaforesaid, in which the rails are brought into alignment, in respect bolts acting on the under side of the back of the head of the rail, and forcing the top of the rail and the opposite side or gauge face against the surfaces of the clamp that are parallel with such faces, so as to'bring the tread and gauge faces of therails into alignment. As indicated in said Schultz patent, the function of the hook bolts associated with each clamp member or yoke is to force the rail heads upward and outward in the fusion welding of of the tread and gauge faces thereof, by hook agains t a horizontal and vertical surface of the respective clamp sections or. yokes, so as to efiect a longitudinal alignment of the tread and gauge faces of the rails at the point of juncture, Clamps of this chara'cter have proven. entirely satisfactory when the ends of the straight and uniform,

bends,

rails embraced within the clamp were that is to say, without kinks or deformations. But ithas are not straight andv free from deformations,

but are kinked or bent points moreor less at various lengths, and in forcing along their the tread and gauge faces of the rail heads against the parallel surfaces of the clamp sectlons o r yoke, rendered it difficult, if not impossible,'to bring the rail ends in exact alignment, which is a necessary concomitant of a satisfa The a character which will alignment of the rail ends ctory weld. present invention provldes a clamp of insure the perfect by providing three or more points of pressure'contactbetween the clamping membersof each yoke,one or more of which contact elements may be ad- 'justed end th or mo until t relative to the others,.so that a rail at is bent or deformed may be rocked ved either horizontally or vertically he ends of both railsv are brought into the desired alignment. I y a A relatively simple form of the inventlonlllustrated in Figs. 1,2 and 3, in which 1 indicates the body portion of a yoke member provided 7 V spaced sockets 2, 2 to receive't-he customary tension bolts 15, which mid se stradd at each end with a pair of ction of les the greater widththan the rail head, said recess being defined by a vertical wall parallel with the gauge face of the rail head and. a top or horizontal wall surface or tread of the parallel with the running of the rail, the other wall recess normally being spaced at some distance from the opposite side of the rail head.

The body of the yoke is reinforced,

by vertical transverse webs 4 4 extending betwee n the sockets 2, 2. Formed integrally are engaged by nuts i 16, which occupy recessed portions 7 of the yoke casting.

tute pressure applying elements,

member or yoke of' the clamp is engaged formed on'its lower end a hook 11, which oe cupies housing 5 within the yoke ZLIICl 1S SO engage thelower edge or side 7 disposed as to p of the rail head opposite the gauge facewhen the nuts 12 carried by the screw threaded ends of the bolts are set up, thesaid nuts engaging the ends of the socket'member 6.

' The clamp, as a whole, comprises two ,i yokes, which are generally similar, except that the companion yoke a single socket 2 on each receive the ends of the tension boltslfi, which latter are locked to the-sockets by set screws, rivets or the like, Interposed between the gauge face of each rail end and the parallel vertical face of recess 3 in the corresponds ingclamp.

lis provided with which the latter are mounted, so that the liner presents a pressure contact abutment of limited area on one side ofithe rail head and the hook ends 11 of the 'bolts .10 constiso that each with its corresponding rail endfby a three point contact. It wil1,therefore,be seen that, if the end of the rail'within the 1 clamp is bent or deformed or is of such character that it could not be brought into alignment with the rail in theother member of the clamp, the desired alignment may be effected by varying and adjusting the pressure imposed upon the outside of the railhead by the hook bolts, so that the end of the railv may be rocked on or actually bent about the abutment 8 until the rail ends are brought into alignment. Itiwill be understood, of course, that the alignment of thetopsurfaces. or treads of the rails will be effected by the znormal operationof-the hook bo1ts.. .1

If desired, a similar shim or liner, such as 9, may be located between the mid section ends of the rails have mere lateral or, up}

ward bends or deflections therein, it is pose sible to employ the. clamp without the shims orliners, as the straightening: of the bent section of the railmay be eifected'directly bydifferential pressures applied by thehook falls within end, which sockets member. is a shim or liner 8, which is preferably; located substantiallymidway of the top wall of the recess 3 and the tread bolts, provided the bent section of the rail the limits of the clamp. In any event, when the respective ends of the rails are engaged with the corresponding yokes and pairs of hook bolts, the latter may be manipulated to apply differentialpressures to the rail ends until the latterare brought into axial alignment with their tread and gauge faces in the same planes; In this particular form of the device, the two hook bolts in each yoke section constitute the two adjustable members of the three point contact between the clamp and the rail end, the vertical wall of the recess 3 of each yoke engaging the gauge face of the rail end constituting the third contact point of. area and which is, in'efiect, an abutment, the shimer liner, when the same isused, serving as a means for limiting the area of this third point. of pressure contact, f I 7 It is obvious that this shim or abutment, if placed on the'vertical wall of'the recess 3 of each yoke, would take careofjhorizontal adjustments of the rail and a similar shim or abutmenton the horizental'wall of the recess 3 would take care of vertical adjustments and as these adjustments are made by means of hook bolts disposed diagonally it is dG-j sirable to facilitate various portions of verti-v cal and horizontal adjustments to have these shims or abutments more or less movable so that the relative horizontal or vertical ad justment'may more easily be determined.

In Fig. 4:, the clamp, as a whole, is of the same generalform as that shown in the pr eceding figures, so that .it will not be necessary to describe the details of constructionthereof otherthan to say that each yoke is provided with a single socket 6 and, therefore, a single hook bolt 10, which is adapted to engage the outside of therail head as in the preceding case. Each 'of the yokes 1 and 1' is provided with a :pair of spaced adjusting screws 8, 8 mounted in recessed lugs on the under side of the clamp with their outer ends adapted to be moved into abutting relation with the gaugeiface of the corresponding rail end; the screws being disposed laterally with respect to the hook bolt, that is tosay, on each sideof the longitudinal axis of the hook bolt so that the latter and the two adjusting screws constitute a three point pressure contact between and by setting up the hook bolt and differentially adjustingthe set screws in the re-v l spective yokes, the ends of the rails can be brought into exact alignment. v

In the modification shown in Fig. 5, the three point pressure contact between each yoke and the corresponding rail end is effected by a single hookbolt 10, arrangedas befo re, and two adjusting screws of the same general type as thoseshown in the preceding figure,*but which are disposedon opposite 'sidjesof therecessifi of the yoke, that is'to say, one on the same side as the hook bolt and the other on the opposite side. t will be obvious that by differentially adjusting the set screws, the end of the rail within the clamp may be adjusted to any position and, therefore, to a position in which it is in alignment with the rail in the other yoke member of the clamp.

In the modification shown in Fig. 6, each yoke is provided with a single hook bolt 10 of the same structure and arrangement as previously described and four adjusting screws 8 arranged in pairs on opposite sides of the recess 3 of the yoke, so that by differentially adjusting the respective screws, the end of the rail within the yoke may be adjusted to any desired position.

It will be seen, therefore, that, in each of the modifications, the essential novelty resides in the three point contact between each member of the clamp and the head of the rail end engaged therewith, so that a variation in either the pressure or the position of any two of the three points of contact will render it possible to move, adjust or even straighten the rail end until it is in alignment with its fellow carried by the opposite yoke of the clamp. It will be obvious, of course, that this three point contact is not necessarily limited to the rail heads, as similar contacts with other parts of the rail sections or ends will have the same results and advantages, but it is preferred that the clamping be accomplished through the rail heads for the reason that, if these are brought into alignment, the other portionswill also be properly alined.

What I claim is:

1. In a clamp for use in pressure welding rails of the type involving two yokes with bolts connecting the yokes and hook bolts carried by the yokes and engaging the respective rail heads to bring the gauge and tread surfaces into alignment, said clamp involving a three point contact with each rail end, with means for varying the pressure applied at two of said contact points.

In a clamp for use in pressure welding rails of the type involving two yokes' with bolts connecting the yokes and hook bolts carried by the yokes and engaging the respective railheads to bringthe gauge and tread surfaces into alignment, said clamp involvin a three oint'contact between each rail end and the corresponding yoke and hook means, and means for adjusting the pressure at two of said contact points.

3'. A clamp for use. in pressure welding rails, comprising two yokes each having end sockets, bolts engaging said sockets for connecting the yokes laterally of the rail engaging portions thereof, each yoke provided with a rail straddling recess having a vertical wall adjacent the gauge side of a rail head and a horizontal wall adjacent the rail tread, means carried by each yoke to efi'ect a 7 three point contact with the corresponding rail end, and means for varying the pressure at two of said contact points.

4. A clamp for use in pressure welding rails, comprising two yokes each having end sockets, bolts engaging said sockets for connecting the yokeslaterally of the rail en mg portions t ereo-f, each yoke provided with a rail straddling recess havinga vertical rail head and at points disposed laterally with reference to the abutment means.

5. A clamp for use in pressure welding rails, comprising two yokes, bolts connecting the yokes,each yoke provided jacent the gauge face of the rail head and a horizontal wall adjacent the rail tread, abut ment means on the vertical Wall to effect a contact of llmited area with the gauge face of the corresponding rail, a pair of oblique hollow bosses on each yoke and disposed on each side of the abutment, the bores of which nally adjustable bolts in each of the bosses having hooked lower ends to engage the lower edge of the other side of the rail head.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

EDWARD F. BEGTRUP.

with a rail straddling recess having one vertical wall ad-' bosses intersect the recesses, and longitudi- I 

